Chronological

Chronological resumes are preferred. They are preferred in situations where you want to emphasize your recent employers, where you may have held impressive job titles, where you want to emphasize the progress you have made in your career, when you are not changing careers, or when the field you are entering favors the chronological resume.

You may want to avoid the chronological resume when you want to play down your age, when you may have been absent from the job market for an extended period of time, if you have or if you have changed employers frequently.

Functional

The functional resume stresses specific qualifications required by a certain occupation rather than the order in which skills are developed, jobs held, or classes taken. Though not usually preferred, the functional resume works well when you want to emphasize capabilities you have but which you have not been able to use in your current employment. It is also effective if you want to emphasize personal qualities relevant to a job, or if you new to the job market and do not have a history or when your advancement in the job market has not been continuous or you have a variety of work experiences unrelated to the job you are applying from. If you are re-entering the job market after a length absence, you may find the functional resume helpful or if your work has been of a temporary or free lance nature.

Avoid the functional resume when you need to emphasize your career growth or you need to emphasize your prior employers or work history.

Contents of a resume

Resumes include (often in this order):

  • Contact information
  • Objective Statement
  • Educational experience
  • Previous work experience (dates, employers, position, responsibilities, achievements)
  • Other qualifying activities, workshops, special skills, additional training, awards
  • Volunteer or community work
  • Basic personal /contact information
  • References section (optional)

Resumes do not include personal information about age, health, ethnicity, marital status, or non-position related information

Suggestions for developing a resume: